I'm at a place right now with our cool hobby where nothing I seem to touch works out right....you know "gives you problems from every angle" type of stuff.

I feel like I just don't have "IT" anymore....

Here's what I've got....I've got several projects in the "WIP" stage....

One of them is disassembled, ready for paint, I just have no desire to complete it (been like this for months....more than likely its going to a master basher for completion, it'll end up being a "team project" like how Alt Bludgeon worked out to be)

Two Ani Pk's....again, all mods done, just need to be painted and all that jazz....

Another that all the mods are done, but it needs disassembled and prepped for paint, I look at it everyday, and have no desire to even touch it....so it just sits there.

The last is still in the "modding" stage....I know what I want to do with it, I can see it in my head, but when I broke out the tools today to get started, it was pretty much as soon as I fired the Dremel up, I was turning it back off....nothing accomplished.

I've got another project that I darn near ruined last month....it was so much time and work I had put into it....I was so heart broken when I discovered that I had really screwed it up....thankfully I was able to make all the needed repairs to it, its pretty much done (its another "team project" going to a different master basher for completion....I planned for this one to go this way though )

Am I lazy?...I don't think so....I want to...I mean REALLY want to make these customs....but the desire just isn't there anymore.

It doesn't help that my hand tremors are getting progressively worse either....that's really annoying....I was involved in a bad car accident when I was 17 or 18....broke a bone in my neck, and that led to a pinched nerve (so the doctors say) so yeah, that ain't gonna get any better.....

So....enough rambling on, back to my original reason for starting this thread

What do you all do when you have lost the desire to bash/customize?....

Do you put it all down, pack it all up and walk away from it?...Do you ever get that desire back?...Do breaks really help?...if so, how long of a break was needed?

Oh yeah, I have to say this:

This has been and always will be the best darned Kitbash and Customizing site EVAH!!

I love you guys....you all ROCK!!

Eric - pk

Attached Files:

i have had many problems at times where i just dont feel it so at that point i dont do it and when i do feel it,, its still there to go back to. youll be ok just take as long of a break as you need to.

I think a break will really help Bro. I was MIA for a while because of quite a few family issues and tons of school projects. Everything Just settled down this week and I find myself with a hundred fresh ideas and 20 or so half completed customs and many coming to completion(Just putting the finishing touches on WW Shockwave among some others ). Hand tremors are no joke either, surprised that quite a few have them and I know that it absolutely sucks sometimes when working on certain things. Just relax, its the holidays. Come new year, Give em hell kid!

I don't think I have hit that boundry yet, but I know you have been at it consistently longer than I have.

All I can say is even if you take a break, please don't leave the world of customs for two long. You are a constant positive influence on any of the work I do, and to go without your work fro too long...sniff, snifff....excuse me...

No. I do get into ruts, and sometimes feel like I need to devote more time to other aspects of my life. This is normal!

Plowking said:

I'm at a place right now with our cool hobby where nothing I seem to touch works out right....you know "gives you problems from every angle" type of stuff.

Click to expand...

Yes, I can totally relate! I call this the sh*tfinger syndrome, where everything you touch turns to, well you know. Happens to all of us, I think stepping back and not concentrating so much on it will reap huge rewards in the long run. When your mind frame is different, you will find a wellspring of ideas to overcome the temporary obstacles!

Plowking said:

Here's what I've got....I've got several projects in the "WIP" stage....

Click to expand...

Do I really need to comment on this one? There is only 24 hours in a day my friend, except up there in Canada. It's like 27.5 hours in a day right, dang metric system!

Plowking said:

One of them is disassembled, ready for paint, I just have no desire to complete it (been like this for months....more than likely its going to a master basher for completion, it'll end up being a "team project" like how Alt Bludgeon worked out to be)

Two Ani Pk's....again, all mods done, just need to be painted and all that jazz....

Another that all the mods are done, but it needs disassembled and prepped for paint, I look at it everyday, and have no desire to even touch it....so it just sits there.

Click to expand...

Simple. Shelf them. May sound like a very un-Radicon statement, but I'm sure you would rather come back to finish a custom the way you want to and enjoy it than finish it for the sake of finishing it! This is a good thing, gets your mind off the negative aspects of custom, if any.

Plowking said:

The last is still in the "modding" stage....I know what I want to do with it, I can see it in my head, but when I broke out the tools today to get started, it was pretty much as soon as I fired the Dremel up, I was turning it back off....nothing accomplished.

Click to expand...

This is actually my favorite part of a bash. But if the inspiration isn't there, turning the Dremel off is your best bet. Better to come back to it eager than frustrate yourself further by making a haphazard mistake due to apathy.

Plowking said:

I've got another project that I darn near ruined last month....it was so much time and work I had put into it....I was so heart broken when I discovered that I had really screwed it up....thankfully I was able to make all the needed repairs to it, its pretty much done (its another "team project" going to a different master basher for completion....I planned for this one to go this way though )

Click to expand...

Well my friend, I have a box of customs that are in need of serious repair, mostly a result of trying to find out "What if I....'"

Plowking said:

Am I lazy?...I don't think so....I want to...I mean REALLY want to make these customs....but the desire just isn't there anymore.

Click to expand...

No, your normal. You need a moment of inspiration and you'll be right back in the game better than ever. Read a book. See a movie. Take the wife on a date. I find doing something totally unrelated to the hobby is essential in maintaining a healthy attitude towards the hobby!

Plowking said:

It doesn't help that my hand tremors are getting progressively worse either....that's really annoying....I was involved in a bad car accident when I was 17 or 18....broke a bone in my neck, and that led to a pinched nerve (so the doctors say) so yeah, that ain't gonna get any better.....

Click to expand...

I can relate, to an extent. I fell off 25 feet of scaffold when I was about 28. Landed on my butt! I have very bad sciatic nerve inflammation, and also a pinched nerve in my neck that acts up now and again. One of the unpleasant side effects is my left hand will completely lose its grip. Only happens a few times a year anymore, but usually when I need it the most! A healthy mindset is essential in dealing with these physical symtoms, because they may not get any easier. On the days I can't stand up straight, it reminds me how blessed I am when I can.

Plowking said:

So....enough rambling on, back to my original reason for starting this thread

What do you all do when you have lost the desire to bash/customize?....

Do you put it all down, pack it all up and walk away from it?...Do you ever get that desire back?...Do breaks really help?...if so, how long of a break was needed?

Click to expand...

Never think you're rambling, bro. It's always helpful to talk with friends about what's happening with you, it starts the healing process.

Plowking said:

This has been and always will be the best darned Kitbash and Customizing site EVAH!!

Click to expand...

Because of good folks just like you!

Plowking said:

I love you guys....you all ROCK!!

Eric - pk

Click to expand...

We're always here for you my man. Enjoy the friends and the works on this site and don't stress. Take a break, then you'll be back in no time with guns a blazin'!

Im at a point right now where I have no desire to customize too. Maybe its because its winter time, and I cant really paint when its this cold out (need ventilation). I have some really good ideas but I really have no desire to start anyhthing. I really hope its just a "winter blues" thing.

I don't think I have hit that boundry yet, but I know you have been at it consistently longer than I have.

All I can say is even if you take a break, please don't leave the world of customs for two long. You are a constant positive influence on any of the work I do, and to go without your work fro too long...sniff, snifff....excuse me...

Click to expand...

I totally agree with what E is saying here.

As I said to you on MSN, you seem to have lost that "spark" or "it factor". Which happens to the best of people. You may find it again if you take a break, you may not.
Regardless of what you do, know this, you have a legacy of "trainees" that will bring to (as you put it) the New Breed of Radicons into the future.
Eric, you have been a great friend & mentor to me & I can't thank you enough for introducing me to the Radicons. As I'm sure many others will agree with me.
You said TFMaster saw something in you along time ago & in turn you saw something in us. I'm am proud to be a "Student of Plowking"
Take all the time you need my freind, I hope you can find "it" again.

And if you don't believe me, just look below at my sig. Where would that killer combo be without you ?!?!?!?

Hey bro, I really hate to hear you say this, but I'm glad that you're honest with yourself and the rest of us Radicons. I think all artists go through ups and downs. Essentially we can either ride the creative waves or let them ride us. The determining factor is which is in control. You can be "in a rut" and still be very much in control. One of the keys to those is knowing you're in a rut and taking the necessary steps to remedy it.

I think a resounding "take a break from 'bashing" is what I'm hearing overall in this thread. I've found one of two things that actually work when in a rut: take a break, or plow on through to the bitter end (no pun intended). Wisdom is needed to know which one to exercise and when. I've found this is a project by project basis. In terms of plowing on through, I believe it is C.S. Lewis who said that deadlines are often times the best sources of inspiration. Sometimes work is just . . . well, work. One of the best things to do here is just keep pluggin' away to get the job off of your desk so you can move on to something else. I've found that if I'm ever in this situation, the new project ends up being the refresher.

Gil Grissom once said, "Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is nothing at all." I find that often to be the case. If taking a break from making artwork truly is the vice, one of the remedies I've found that ends up being a great source of inspiration is staying involved just in different ways. As you and others know, I've been in a position for many months now that for one reason or another I've not been able to do much work at all on my projects. I have been able to turn my energies here in Radicons to a great extent (at least for a long while until moving and finishing school became higher priorities). I've not been in a creative rut, but just an output rut. Continual involvement and a good dosage of patience continue to keep me in the game.

Hanging on to original inspirations helps quite a bit as well. One of the reasons I commit to Alt/BT bashes almost exclusively is because they are the inspiration for my work to begin with. Now, while artists evolve with their artwork, sometimes artwork (and other things) inspires one to shift gears. However, I've found that even when one changes things up a bit, the original sparks (again, no pun intended) truly continue to ignite. Perhaps rediscovering the joys this artwork brought to you originally is in order. Perhaps a new way of doing something that is dear to you will fuel your creative energies. Whatever the case may be, getting to the heart of things generally works wonders.

One last dose of medicine I'll mention that you're already doing is discussing with like-minded people how you feel. This goes along well with my previous statements, as Radicons really understand what you're going through and how you feel. This thread already looks very helpful, and I imagine the Radicons will be able to help you in ways you never even imagined. That's just another Radicons is THE awesome. Period.

yep. I've been there. The point where you have stuff to do, but you just don't want to do it. Even with some single bashes, I start... then pretty much loose interest. It does come back when you start working on something you get really passionate about. I'm almost in that situation right now, but it's mainly because I don't have a place to work.... and it killllls me.

I have not been bashing for long and have yet to face this problem, but take a break. Could be you just have too much to work on and not sure where to start, at least that happens to me alot. I wanted to mirror what the others have said, please not too long. You gave me a great idea for my KITT-bash by pointing me to the Alt Bludgeon that you and REDLINE did. I started to work more on KITT but life isn't letting me work much more on it. I really appreciated your help, and I like your work.

Do what you must, but you know bashing is in your blood. This family, your fellow Radicons, will be here when you come back stronger than before.

I think you've just got too much going on at once. So many, it's watered down the experience. When you have some free time, go over and inspect one of teh paint-ready ones, or start to disassemble the modded one, or finish modding the last one. But just take it one step at a time until you get back into the swing of things.

Trust me, this has happened to me. You're intrest with return, but only if you take it slow. I may not post my kitbashes here or post otfen, but I still 'bash and have run into this problem twice.

It's a little laziness on my part as well as getting easily discouraged. I'm not saying that I expect an instant masterpiece every time I work on something, but when I get myself in a jam, it's hard for me to move beyond it. I've started more customs than I've finished. REDLINE knows this as he's one of the more frequent posters in my threads. It's not that I don't have time (I've got a couple of nights a week to work on things). I simply don't apply myself.

To combat this, I made a vow to never start a WIP thread again (the exception being Overdrive of course). This doesn't mean that I'm not working on anything. I'm just keeping it in the dark for now.

I have lost interest in bashing given my moving to Spain in a year or so. Why should I put so much effort and time if I have to leave most of my TFs? I can carry only a few figures.
But I think you just have to take a break, relax, think about other stuff, and eventually an idea will come to your mind, and then you will bash it, and we all will be amazed again when you showed it.

Pk, I think taking a break would be better than just doing your customs now. This way on the break (for how long its up to you) will give you time to rethink ways to make something better without using your cool and start having a "Tantrum"...sorry couldn't resist. Anyways go ahead take time to chill out and when its time to do those customs you'll be focused.

I understand about the injury deal..man, thats not fun at all. I once had a pinched nerve incident before..man, that hurts like a motherf****. But I got over that now I have this eye problem, but still that don't stop me hell no and if I need break off from doing something I will so that I can refocus my thoughts of what to do.

I have the exact same feeling. I never get anything done, but here I am buying heads on eBay.

What worked for me to shake that feeling was to focus and complete one.

Aside from a feeling of accomplishment, WIPs can be stifling.

Bag all your WIPs separately and focus on one at a time. I have so so so many ideas/wips that it feels like work, so I haven't touched them. So I got them all out of my sight and was able to finally get some done.

Stop feeling like a slave to your hobbies--if you don't feel like bashing, don't. What's the point of hobby if you aren't having fun doing it? Don't be afraid to take a break; if you aren't enjoying yourself now, forcing it certainly isn't going to improve things.